Hey Guys. Long time no speaky. This is due to lack of semi decent internet. I am still yet to find such good internet but am making do with Bolivian. Like everything in bolivia its tempermental and slow! So lets try and piece together my last 2 weeks or so from Cuzco to the Inca Trail, Puno and now La Paz.

Up at 4am for the Flight to Cuzco, Jorges home turf. We take a rather odd route via Puno and it takes us approx 2 hours.
The white water rafting on offer is only at grades 2 or 3 so I think I will save my money for some hopefully more monstrous rapids in Chile.I spend the day looking around Cuzco. It is much nicer than the other parts of Peru which i have been to. Despite being the end of the dry season it is still rather green, montainous, in the wet season I think it would be even more awesome.
I spend a few hours in the local market buying a scarf and jumper made of Alpaca for a total of 8 quid, for an extra bit of warmth on the Inca Trail (tho later found to be unecessary), it is the brown one I sport in many a photo from now. Plus you may notice a cowboy style hat which i picked up in Chivay market for 4 quid.
Next day I go to buy my boleto turistico which gives me access to many sites around Cuzco as well as the sacred valley, using my student card I get it for half price. Spend the morning walking round Cuzco and being an underapreciated stylist in Cuzco´s H and M, Topitok, with Charlotte and Juani. In the afternoon i go on the city tour with my tourist ticket. We see sites such as Sachsyhauman (SexyWoman) an inca temple site on the city outskirts, a convent in the city plus other smaller sites (see photos). The tour guide was useless doing about 10mins talking in spanish and 1min in english and it was a bit of a whistlestop tour. On our retrun we dinner. Most go to semi nice place but Charlotte Juani and I start dinner club and get a two course meal plus drink for 12S/ or 2quid.

Today (i dont know what day exactly but work it out), we head to ollyantatambo (thats how i´m going to spell it!) ready to start the inca trail the following day. En route we stop off at a local market to see women making alpaca clothing from scratch, the temple at Pisaq, Pisaq market and the temple at ollyantatambo. We also try Chicha a local hoppy drink at a Chicharia and play a game similar to pub table skittles but holes where the skittles should be, the idea being to get the discs in the holes. I´m adament it is a game of luck!! Tonight dinner club loses its most important member (me) and acquires tim and ellen who go to a back street chicken place. I opted out cus i didn´t want to spend the inca trail with food posioning so went safe.

Now is the day of the Inca Trail. We meet our guides Fernado and Roddy. Fernado has kindly taken a photo of himself as you may see. We start the trail some time just after nine am. This day is largely flat with a few ups and downs. For the trail we could only pack 6kg including sleeping bag, roll mats etc as this is what the porters carry for us as well as the cooking stuff totaling some 25kg. Its not long before they over take us! After about an hour we loose Patricia and Fernado. We assume she is having a few difficulties so Roddy presses us on as Fernado can look after her. We arrive for lunch with Patrcia already there with Fernado. Patricia had decided to take her own shortcut! The set up is very much like Kilimanjaro with a tent, table, chairs and everything else. Lunch, like our meals for the rest of the trip consists of a soup and then a main of chicken/chips/rice/veg etc. After lunch we walk for another 3hours or so. To keep morale up charlotte and I start singing. Neither of us can sing, we have different taste in music and if we agree a song we only know every other line. But that didnt stop us for a good hour. Just before dark we reach the campsite. Take tea of crackers, popcorn and hot drinks. Play some cards, the international game of s***head, with the guides.

Up at 5am for the testing day climbing from 3200m to 4200m then back down to 3600m. Breakfast of porridge and coca tea. The coca leaf chewing begins. They are supposed to help with oxygen flow and create a tingling in the extremeties. The different walking paces soon are apparent today as we climb. Juani races ahead (a theme for the rest of the trail), Isabel, Emily and I follow a few minutes behind and the rest of the group spreads out behind us over 15 to 45 mins behind. Its steeo steps pretty much all the way. The ascent is divided into three sections, one of 200m up, one of 400m and a final 400m. At the end of a section we wait for everyone to get togther and make sure people are okay. The scenary is largely forest like, becoming more barren the higher we climb. We have tea just before the final 400m upto the highest point of 4215 at Dead Womens Pass. It is called dead womens pass as it looks like a women lying down. You may be able to make it out in the photos, some where soon after the ones of me standing next to the post. We wait for everyone at the top and take group photos. Now its down again. Juani has raced on ahead. I reach the campsite about half 2. Juani has a headache, Isabel a Migrain and Charlotte is struggling to breath/vomitting due to altitude. I spend an hour napping by the stream before lunch. After lunch we all nap for a couple of hours before tea. Only me isabel juani and emily are present, everyone is still sleeping. We eat enough for 14 and play more cards until tea an hour later. Everyone but charlotte is feeling better. Straight to bed after tea.
Up at 5am again but for the best day of the trail in terms of ease and views. We climb 300m straight away then fall into the cloud forest valleys on the other side. Charlotte has recovered. We walk for hours stopping off at obvious and a hidden inca remains. The scenery is stunning, looking out into valleys of forest. We may see bears and foxes but we dont :( Juani is still running and missing out on so much. We have lunch around 2pm with views of macchu piccu mountain beyond which is macchu piccu itslef but we cant see it. We have a half hour siesta before setting off again. We now approach the Gringo Killer. Gringo being the word for foreigner (usually american) this consists of losing about 1000m in altitude down steep shallow steps. Juani, obviously, wants a race with the guide. He gives her a five minute head start. I go down at a quick pace after thenm. After about 10mins I come across Juani being bandaged up by Fernando. She´s gone over and cut her knee, hands and lip. Luckily it was nothin worse (see photo). Isabel soon catches up and us two carry on running down (lessons are never learnt). We wait at the next meeting point of Juani comes running around the corner about 5mins later. Everyone catches up and me and Isable continue to run the next couple of k. I´m surprised at my pwn fitness but i wasnt going to let her win. We are jumping rocks, quick footing steps, avoiding branches. We see noone and themountain scenery around is imense, great experience!! When everyone has caught up again we see another ruin with spectactular views down Urubamba valley. We get to the campsite at nightfall and have dinner. We meet the porters and share cake. Some head for the ·party· at the bar there. I dont but just go to bed, everyones back within 10mins saying nothing was happening.

Final day and up at 4am. The cloud is low, we cant see more than 5 metres and its drizzling. We set off at first light at 530. We follow a long line of people all the way to intipuku or the Sun Gate. But today there was no sun, just cloud (see photo). We snack on a sandwich and take a group photo before heading down into an unseeable macchu piccu. We arrive just as the cloud clears and Fernado gives us a 2hour tour and we take lots of pictures. Its not what i expected, i thought it was a ruin in a basin but its actually atop a mountain and walls are pretty much intact though there has been a lot of restoration work. Its amazing and stricking none the less. We spend another couple of ours just walking around the various streats, fountains and temples and sit at the guard tower just looking down onto it. We didnt get tickets for Huanu Picchu the mountain behind but Adam and Jenna did as they did the Lares trek. He said it was a dangerous and horrible climb but well worth it. After we head down into Aguas Calientes for lunch before getting the train back to cuzco around 4pm. The train journey takes 4 hours and is uncomfortable so I pass the time sleeping and playing cards with ellen. We arrive cuzco 9pm ish. Macchu Piccu still hasnt sunk in (and i still dont think it properly has).

We spend today unwinding in Cuzco. Some go for massages, I updated my handwritten journal and had a Full English at The Real McCoy. We all get toghter for dinner then head out to a club. It started off with salsa but soon hit more familiar tunes and I started dancing, aided by 50p cuba libres. Isabel, Charlotte, Ellen and Jenna were dancing on the bar having rum poured down their throats, despite the crowds cries I declined joining. Arrive back at the hotel around 230am after a blinding night out!!

Early morning up, everyone but me feels a bit rough (i think i danced the alcohol off) and Isabel is still drunk. We get a bus to Puno on lake titicaca. It lasts 7 hours but everyone makes it in an okay state. We grab lunch and go to the market to buy fruit and veg as gifts for our families on the home stay. Most people spend the night in sleeping but a few of us go out for a couple of beers and dinner.

Today we spent on lake titicaca at various islands. We tour round on the worlds slowest boat for hours. We arrived at our homestay, a penisula Juliana on the lake. We are greeted by music then taken to the local school where we get our asses kicked at football, though my volleyball team won. We balmed our lack of fitness on the altitude of 3800m asl. We met our families. I´m sharing with Charlotte and Patricia. Our family consists of Jose, Lucia, Americo, Amadaeo, Luani, Sereina and Roli. They are friendly and we speak in spanish, teach them some english and play games before supper. They feed us very well. Afterwards we get dressed up in local clothing and head to the school hall for a night of dancing. Its really good fun, a bit like may queen dancing. Later we head back to bed.

Up at 7 and say goodbye. Get back on the worlds slowest boat and head to the reed islands where some people still live. There are around 75 islands in total. We get back to Puno around 2pm. I sleep, do some washing and have a wander about. We get together for tea then all go to bed. Adam is not pleased with his homestay and complains about it in a humourous way all day. He and Jenna were with a 80 year old couple who only spoke Aymara.

2 days ago....Up for the trip to La Paz. 5 hour bus journey, crossing the border at copacabana around 10am. After the bus we lunch before another hour bus to a boat. Take a rocky boat for 10mins across lake titicaca while the bus goes on another flat, rockier boat. Back on the bus for 2 hours before finally arriving at La Paz. Out for dinner and drinks and dancing as last night on tour.

Yesterday, wake up feeling really rough having drunk too many 7% Bock beers. Adam leads a City tour from the lonely planet guide. We go to the witches markets where you can buy llama dried foetuses as good luck. We think about it then wonder how you explain to UK customs. Bolivia is a more backward country than Peru and not what everyone was expecting. I love it. I nap in the afternoon. In the evening we meet the newcomers and our new guide Barbara who I will have till Buenos Aires. Those leaving us are Adam and Jenna, Penny and John, Doris and Manfred and Ellen. The newcomers seem nice. A couple called Kerry and James seem similar minded to us. Stacey an Aussie nicely fills ellens gap. One couple we havent met yet and the other seem slightly odd: hes 70 shes about 35. We shall see. We went out for a meal, some went out dancing but I just went to bed.

Today Up. Spent the last 2.5 hours on the internet wrtiitng this and it has cost me 80p. The photos are just not working here so I have around 200 to put up and will try again either this evening or when we get to Sucre.
Must go now as we are saying farewell to Adam Jenna and Ellen who are head to the airport at 3pm. Going to spend the afternoon wandering around La Paz.

I know its a long post and well done you if you read it all.
All is great here and I am looking forward to the next 7 weeks.
Dont miss me too much.
Hope all is well back with you all.
Much love xx